Hard Work Never Helped Anyone
by PheasantJJ
Summary: High School AU. Naruto is having some issues with his best friends not being supportive when he worked.
1. Chapter 1

_((A/N: This is also supposed to be a message to someone who I hope will read this. If they think about it a bit, they will know who they are. Btw, some details are a bit exaggerated, and/or didn't happen in my situation. This is just something similar to my problem.))_

 ** _Note: This is an American-Style High School and setting._**

Once upon a time, there was a little high school called Konoha. In this high school, there were many teenagers. They fought with each other, laughed with each other, and defended each other from other schools. These students were well known through out their country as the best students when it comes to team work and effort. They were proud of that title, certainly. However, this story brings to light a time when team work was not applied. When one member was singled out, and how he coped with it.

It all started in November. Leaves were falling from trees, and it was chilly out. Naruto pulled his brown jacket over his bright orange jump suit, and bounded out the door. He had a large grin plastered on his face, and a good mood anyone could detect. He had done something that had been unprecedented for him. He was very excited to share it with his best mates, because he knew they'd be surprised.

"Sakura! Sasuke!" Upon seeing his two best friends (and lab partners in biology. Well, all the classes they had together) he shouted their names loudly. He waved at them as they made eye contact. His grin somehow grew wider as he watched them walk over to him.

"What is it now, Naruto," Sasuke sighed, putting his head in his hand. He always acted like he was so tired of Naruto. Well, this was mostly because Naruto called Sasuke over for a lot of stupid things. Like his 'amazing karate technique' which was just him kicking a board that didn't even break. So, yeah, Naruto understood why Sasuke would not be the most eager to hear whatever he had to say. But this time, he'd make Sasuke proud.

"I wrote all of my report for English!" he announced proudly, beaming at Sasuke and the pinkette clinging to his arm. Naruto's smile didn't falter when he saw his friends' astonished faces. They probably needed time to adjust to what he was saying. His face DID fall, however, at Sasuke's comment.

"Really?" he said, voice filled with skepticism. Naruto tried to brush it off, even though it hurt that his hard work was being questioned. Sasuke just needed time to adjust, that was all. Then came Sakura's comment.

"What?! Naruto did work?! I can't believe it! You're too lazy to do that sort of thing!" Now, that stung. He took a deep breath and stuck his smile back on his face. He rummaged through his bag and handed the papers to Sasuke.

"I did do it! All of it, see?" he said, choosing not to get angry at their doubts. Here he was, proving them all wrong. He wasn't a screw up, or an idiot. As soon as they read this, they'd admit he knew what he was doing.

Unfortunately, he didn't get what he expected from his two best friends. The looked it over, and Sakura seemed to be slightly impressed at certain bits, but it was mostly just silence.

"Well, good job," Sakura said, handing it back to him. "It's great to know you'll have _one_ A on your report card this year," she said cheerfully.

"One?! What do you mean, Sakura?" he asked, surprised. "I'm gonna keep doing this!"

Suddenly, they burst into laughter. They were laughing at him. Because he was planning on actually doing work the entire school year. They didn't believe him. They thought he'd give up. No, he wouldn't. He wouldn't give up, he'd show both of them he could be as smart as they were!

"I'll show you!" he shouted, running off. Behind him, his friends glanced at each other. What was up with him today?

* * *

This continued for the next couple of months. He'd show them his completed work, and he'd just get surprised responses, and being told that he wouldn't be able to live up to his promise. Naruto was infuriated. Why weren't they saying it was good?! Was it really that sloppy? Or was it that they really thought that low of him? He poured his heart and soul into his work, even though he didn't enjoy it. And for what? To impress them! He did it for them, and they didn't actually care.

Sometimes, when he was alone and Sakura had been particularly brutal, he would cry about it. He locked the door and hid in his room for a couple hours. He slowly to calmed down, taking deep breaths and wiping away his tears. He was going to be the principal of Konoha. He couldn't waste his time crying.

True to his word, Naruto continued doing his work, even though it was difficult, and sometimes things were turned in a little late. He tried his best, and kept showing it to Sakura and Sasuke. Of course, always getting negativity in return for his hard work.

Then one day, he woke up and thought to himself 'Why even bother?' He didn't go to school, because Sasuke would tease him for not having his work done. Sakura would brag about how she always knew he'd fuck up. He wasn't prepared to face them.

He stayed in his room all day, until sometime after school, when his homeroom teacher came into check up on him. Iruka had been worried about him, and was upset that Naruto chose to cope with his feelings by shutting himself in his room.

Eventually, Iruka left Naruto to his own devices and went to go grade papers. About an hour later, Sasuke and Sakura showed up, full of questions.

They acted so innocent. They were the cause of all of this, and didn't even know it. He just blew up at them. He yelled all of his frustration out at them, even though he didn't mean to. It just came tumbling out.

He yelled at Stupid Sasuke for saying he wasn't good enough, and Stupid Sakura for saying he wouldn't keep to his word. He yelled until hr couldn't yell anymore, staring at their shocked faces. He didn't even wait for their responses, he just stormed out. He was done.

He always had to please everyone else.

He was the one who had to take shit for all his hard work.

He was the on who never got praise, no matter how hard he worked for it.

So he was just done. He gave up, threw the whole situation away.

They wanted him to give up? That's what they expected of him? Fine. He'd give that to them.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Finally I am posting chapter 2. ^-^ This is going a bit different than my original plan, but at least it's something, and decent. Hope you like. :)**

* * *

How would you feel if everyone doubted you, and no one ever wanted to take you seriously? How would you feel if the people you loved most still looked down on you? What if their light-hearted jokes made you feel like you were being stabbed a million times? Well, it makes you feel worthless. Like you are nothing, and don't even deserve praise, even if it was everything that you had ever wanted or craved. Naruto knew how that felt, more than most people.

But he would never have to deal with that anymore. Never again would he have to deal with the unsupportive and rude comments from his so-called 'friends'. This was the last time that Sakura would say something horrible to him, then be surprised when he got hurt. There were no plans to ever have to hear Sasuke scoff disbelievingly at his cheerful exclamation of success. Where he was going, there would be no Sasuke or Sakura.

Now, you may want to point out that Naruto should not run away from home, no matter how angry he is. It would be even worse to run from his village into the next one. Especially when there was no travel between the two towns, and very few citizens from either place even knew where the other was located. On top of that, the village next door was rumoured to be home to thugs and killers, even more than his town was. People heard talk of the leader's son, who did not sleep and would attack people for no reason. However, no one had ever warned Naruto about the other village.

As far as he was concerned, this was as good a hiding spot as any. No one would think to look for him there, and he could just live his life in peace, without the complications of his old friends and reputation. No stupid records of past grades, no pitying loos or cold stares. The whispers behind him wherever he went would disappear, and he could live a normal life. At that time, Naruto was only focused on his own pain and suffering, which he was right to be. All the time spent trying to appease his friends merely hurt him, in the end. If he looked at it objectively, this was the best decision at the moment for his health and self esteem. However, he was not trying to justify it or even make excuses. He was angry and this is what he did.

It was about a day's travel until he got to the next village. This village also had a theme, something you could see in every house and all the public structures. The nature in which these themes differ is, in fact, with their nature. Sand replaced leaves, a strange and unfamiliar sight for the blond. Instead of ornate hangings of different leaves, there were tall sand statues and walls with engraved decorations. Wide-eyed, Naruto turned around, trying to absorb everything around him. He was quite a sight: A teen who was tired and dirty, and obviously not from around here, staring at everything like he had never even seen sand before.

That was exactly how Gaara found him, still staring at everything. The boy was even lightly poking a sand structure, trying to figure out what it was. It was amusing, but Gaara was easily able to hide his mirth as he stood behind the other male silently. Naruto was not aware of the boy behind him, nor the people staring at the boy and whispering. Not at all surprising, because he was never really that observant, and people staring at him and whispering was so normal that it actually took effort to notice it. However, he did notice all the different pieces of sand in the structure. he liked staring at things like this, but Sakura would always make fun-

He blanched at the thought of the friends whom he had loved and left, whipping around to try and clear his head. Opening his eyes, he came nose-to-nose with a maldly surprised-looking redhead who was standing right behind him. Naruto immediately panicked, remembering all the times that he was cornered, robbed, and sometimes even jumped by people who appeared behind him. He reached for his dagger in fear, but relaxed when he saw that the other boy was not intending to hurt him.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked suspiciously, eyes narrowing. The crowd murmured to themselves and slowly backed away. If the mayor's son was gonna go ape-shit on someone, they were going to stay the hell away until it was over. This also went unnoticed by the blond, as he was only ever good at focusing on one thing at a contrast, Gaara definitely noticed it, and wondered how the teen in front of him did not. However, there were a lot of things he did not know about the other boy, so he let it go.

Stiffly, as that is his nature, the redhead took one step forward and held out his hand. "Hello. I am Gaara. You are?" he said civilly, ignoring the shocked and even worried reactions of the crowd gathered around the edges. Contrary to popular belief, he did not kill just anyone for any reason. He did have standards, and morals, even though no one gave him the chance to show that. So, the stupid villagers just assumed that he would kill the foreigner, although that was farthest from the truth. Something in the boy's eyes reminded him of himself, of how he grew up. They were the same, him and the blond. He wouldn't harm the other unless necessary.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" the blond replied, gaining back a sliver of his old enthusiasm. However it was just a shadow compared to the old, bouncy, loud Naruto of before. He didn't seem to notice that he had become a lot more mellow lately. Well, it is of no consequence. It just made him look a little less insane to the villagers, even if he was having a pleasant chat with the mayor's very insane son.

Suddenly, Naruto felt his knees buckle underneath him, and he crumpled onto the ground. The hunger and tiredness had won, and he blacked out.


End file.
